Mr President
by Bright Anarchy
Summary: Dick Grayson is gunned down in front of the team. He's alive but barely and what happened to Robin?
1. I'm Bullet Proof You're Not

Superboy bent over the small form of Dick Grayson shielding the kid from the crossfire of bullets while trying to keep pressure on bullet wound spreading a crimson stain across the shoulder of the kid's dress shirt.

The kid was shivering hard and seemed to be having trouble breathing. His eyes darted around the room. He must be terrified thought Superboy wondering how to get the kid out of the line of fire and to safety. Superboy grimaced a little, hoping he wasn't pressing too hard.

"I'm going to lift you. Keep your head down. I'm bulletproof you're not."

"Noticed that," whispered Dick shakily trying to joke. The room was spinning. He knew he had to stay awake but everything kept greying out. Crap, he needed a cover for his other identity. He closed his eyes and reached blearily for the link in his head. _Guys, Batman and I are going after some of the gunmen. I'll be out of range don't freak._

Superboy hefted him up and Dick stifled a scream. Waves of lurchy pain and swimming sloshing walls and jagged muscles cradling him like an awkward oversized infant, Dick might or might not have thrown up all over Superboy. He wasn't sure.

Superboy ducked into cover laying the civilian down. Artemis put down her bow which was almost out of arrows anyway and whipped out her first aid kit.

"Is there an exit wound?" She asked Superboy kneeling beside Dick. "Grayson try to stay awake."

"Do you know him?" Asked Superboy.

"He's the son of the richest man in Gotham. Everyone knows him," answered Artemis. She'd just caught herself before blurting out something stupid like, he goes to my school.

"...mis your hair is pretty," Dick slurred out. He wanted to touch the golden braid of hair lying next to his hand but couldn't figure out how to move his hand. The pain was fading.

Artemis's memory flashes to this same kid teasingly taking a selfie with her the first day of school, "Hey, weird flirty kid!" Snapped Artemis alarmed. "Stay with me. Breath dammit!"

His eyes half closed, Dick wanted to breath but he couldn't figure out how. Nothing would move. Nothing hurt. He vaguely heard Conner say something about him still having a pulse. He felt Artemis reposition his head and strong puffs of air were forced into him. ...darkness,

"I can't keep up AR forever. We need help, extraction." ...Artemis.

Glad she doesn't like Doritos or tuna fish, thought Dick a little randomly. He couldn't for a million dollars open his eyes, wiggle a finger. He was at the mercy of other people's efforts. Why couldn't he breath on his own? How was he still even semi-conscious?

"Can you get him to the paramedics? He's not too heavy? You'll have to go fast he's not breathing on his own." …?.

"Fast is my first, middle and last name," ...KF.

"The bullet is lodged right there next to his spine, try not to jostle him as you run." ...Conner.

I don't have a body anymore, thought Dick randomly as his head was strapped to something, a tube was shoved down his throat, medical jargon was bouncing back and forth. A paramedic pried open his eyelid. Dick saw Wally's worried form in the background before a painful light was flashed in his eye.

..Ambulance. Dick let go his herculean efforts to stay conscious vaguely hoping he'd wake up again eventually but also knowing that probably wasn't a sure thing.


	2. Young Choices

The Young Justice team returned to the mountain feeling kind of shell shocked. Working with other superheroes there were usually very few casualties. The secret service had no compunctions about gunning down assassins. Of the dozen gunmen shooting at the president and his fellow politicians, one survived. Four secret service men had fallen in the line of duty, three civilians were killed, fifteen were injured badly enough to be taken to hospital and the kid Richard Grayson that had been up on the podium with the president, who'd seen the first shooter and pushed the president out of the way getting shot for his efforts, was in critical condition. The press was following his story closely. His tragic history, sweet smile, heroic rescue of the president… it was on every channel.

Superboy and Artemis got cleaned up and changed into civilian clothes then went to the lounge to wait out Batman for the debrief. Kid Flash was already changed and had the news on watching grim faced. "That mathletes photo is cringe worthy," spoke Wally grimacing. "The playing with puppies in the park one though, where do they find this stuff?"

"He was even smaller than Robin," commented Conner.

Wally looked away from the TV towards Conner. Conner wasn't wrong. Robin's body armour and boots made him a good inch taller and fifty pounds heavier.

"Anyone heard from Robin yet," asked Artemis. She knew he'd gone off with Batman but with the way bullets had be flying she was a little worried.

Everyone looked up as the Zeta announced the arrival of Black Canary and Flash. Both looked kind of grim.

"Excuse me but have you heard from Batman and Robin?" Asked Kaldur.

Flash went and sat beside Kid Flash.

"Robin was caught in the crossfire," spoke Black Canary. "He's being treated in Gotham. I'll be taking over the debriefing."

Wally kind of groaned a little. He knew the drill. The best lie was as close to the truth as possible.

"How bad is it?" Asked Artemis.

"Can I go visit him?" Wally asked Flash.

Barry glanced at the TV then looked back to Wally. "This wasn't your standard mission was it?"

Uncle Barry was avoiding the question which was answer enough to both questions. Wally mulishly frowned thinking that Dick Grayson for that stupid jackass of a president was a bum trade. The universe could have one of those trigger happy secret service men instead.

"So explain to me what happened," encouraged Canary.

Conner frowned, Batman always began with a growl of, Kaldur, summarize the preliminary engagement plan. Canary wasn't doing it right.

"Batman and Robin were undercover being more familiar with Gotham. I was acting as a liaison with the secret service and regular police force. Miss Martian was in camouflage mode above the scene. Artemis was backstage in uniform. Kid Flash was at the back of the crowd guarding the perimeter and Superboy was in the crowd near the front of the stage in plain clothes."

"Young Mr. Grayson had just presented the Wayne Foundation check for the relief efforts and the President was just going up to give his speech. Kid Flash reported a suspicious character by the east door carrying a stuffed giraffe large enough to conceal a weapon. He moved to intercept. Robin reported the reflection of a gun barrel spotted on the north east window but before I had a chance to speak with the secret service, shots were fired. The civilian Richard Grayson must have seen what Robin saw because he pushed the president out of the way and was shot.

"Superboy shielded the president transferring him into the care of the secret service. The president was removed to a secure location. Shots were being fired both by multiple hostiles and by the security detail. The team…"

"What was the team doing at this point?" encouraged Dinah.

"Kid Flash had secured one of the hostiles and handed him over to police."

"The giraffe terrorist," offered Kid Flash who must have been feeling off as he managed to say giraffe terrorist without even cracking a smile. "The plush toy hid a rifle. I think they got the weapons past security prior to the event by concealing them in the toys that were being sent for orphans. There was a big display in the lobby."

"I went back for the kid that rescued the president. I got him out of the line of fire but the bullet shifted. It was lodged near his spine. He stopped breathing. Artemis maintained AR until Kid Flash provided extraction."

Canary listening caught an important detail. "You used X-ray vision?"

Superboy had told no one about the shields. They were secret. Like his half father Luthor, who wanted him to go the extra mile this time, to protect his friend, the president. "It comes and goes," Conner muttered.

"What happened next?" Encouraged Canary.

"For some reason Batman ordered our withdrawal. The firefight was still going on but we were ordered to withdraw," explained Kaldur.

"Where was Robin?"

"With Batman who instructed me over the com to withdraw."

"Did you?"

"Eventually," answered Aqualad. "Superboy continued to evacuate civilians and Miss Martian was looking for Robin."

Canary looked to Megan, "You didn't know Robin was with Batman? You act as a communications relay for the team. Were you not paying attention to what was going on over the link?"

Miss Martian looked uncomfortable. She relayed directed thoughts like words but she received thoughts tainted with emotion. "Something was wrong with Robin," she stated.

Kid Flash looked quesy.

Kaldur spoke, "We might have withdrawn more expediently if we were given better intel."

Canary looked over at Artemis. "Were you pinned down in the orchestra pit that whole time?"

Artemis nodded and shrugged.

"These joint missions are very different from the team's normal jobs," spoke Flash who felt Canary needed the back up. "If you go rogue disobeying or ignoring orders you put yourself and others at risk. There isn't always time to explain the rationale behind orders."

"The civilians needed rescuing," protested Superboy.

"Something had happened to Robin," protested Miss Martian.

Kaldur at least seemed to understand Flash's point. "Batman ordered our withdrawal because Robin was shot and he probably went to take care of Robin. Artemis was left in a position of risk without backup from us or the league because we didn't follow orders. Our duty as heroes is to act to protect others but as Batman is fond of saying, a dead hero protects nobody and an injured hero puts other heroes at risk by requiring rescue so our actions have to be chosen wisely."

"I'm fine," protested Artemis. Dick Grayson who she sometimes ate lunch with had been shot in front of her and she'd spent who knows how long trying to keep the kid from dying in her arms. The secret service agent standing right next to her had been shot in the head while she was still pinned down. She'd just spent half an hour scrubbing… spray out of her hair. She was not so fine. Kid Flash had finally provided extraction. Superboy had been right there but ignoring her. It was Kid Flash that got her out. She wondered a little what took even Kid Flash so long but he'd been ghost pale so she didn't ask.

"Is Robin seriously injured?" asked Kaldur.

Wally looked at Kaldur with a dark look in his eyes. "Batman ordered a withdrawal and left the scene because Robin was injured." The TV was still playing in the background. Listening to the news report with one ear Wally added, "Robin's they'll tell us later if he's going to live type injured."

Though Kaldur looked momentarily taken aback neither Flash nor Canary corrected Kid Flash.

 **Musings of a writer:**

 **Thinking of current and past presidents, prime ministers or whoever does the job of leader in your country, would it be worth the trade? The death of a head of state causes a lot of chaos but the individual in the top position isn't always the nicest example of humanity, in fact sometimes they can be down right cringe worthy.**

 **The other thing that this really made me wonder about was the team's self initiative. I actually think the show did a really good job with portraying the average teen's struggle towards independence and the problems and triumphs it causes. It's important for the team to think for themselves and show initiative but it is also critically important to know when to follow orders particularly when lives are on the line.**

 **There is a divide of us and them between the teens and the adults that is very dangerous. If Batman were to give, lets say Wonder Woman, a direct order in combat, even though she is a strong and independent adult, she'd probably follow the order and ask questions later unless she had strong compelling reason to ignore the order. Batman wouldn't give Wonder Woman an outright order for no reason. Teens often seem to think adults issue orders just because they can and let's face it adults, sometimes that's true. It creates a lot of room for disaster when the order is suddenly urgently necessary.**


	3. We Just Deal

Dick woke to the soft rhythmic pop hiss of a ventilator. He couldn't feel anything from the neck down. A halo spinal brace obstructed his peripheral vision some what. All he had control over was his eyes He looked over. Bruce was asleep in the chair next to his bed. He looked the other way. The wall was glass. He could see a nurses station, intensive care unit… fun.

A Nurse was walking over. Dick looked back to Bruce as he heard a rustle from that side.

"Dick? Can you hear me?" Asked Bruce sitting forward suddenly.

"Richard are you awake? Blink if you can hear us," spoke the nurse.

Dick blinked.

Bruce smiled relieved.

The nurse went to get a doctor.

"You are paralyzed at the moment but the Doctors don't believe it will be permanent," spoke Bruce. "The bullet was already surgically removed. You've been unconscious for," Bruce checked his watch, "57 hours."

Dick looked where Bruce had taken his hand. He couldn't feel it. That was kind of surreal.

Bruce followed his eyes and noted the sudden increase in Dick's heart rate. He let go of Dick's hand and rested his hand against the side of Dick's face instead which seemed to help calm him.

This was so wrong. Bruce wasn't the one who talked. Dick filled the emptiness with cheerful chatter and Bruce hmm'd or Batman grunted. Bruce tried to smile. Dick was awake. It had been touch and go for quite a while.

The team had been asking for updates on Robin for three days now. Everyone knew the risks when it came to the hero business but they'd heard nothing. Finally Superman gave them an infuriatingly uninformative update. Robin had regained consciousness. His condition had been upgraded from critical to serious.

It was close to two weeks before Dick was breathing on his own and was stable enough to leave the ICU. Bruce transferred him to home based care as soon as it was reasonably possible. He had twenty four hour nursing care still. He was still mostly paralyzed but once the breathing tube was removed he could at least talk and Bruce let Wally visit.

"Don't jostle him Wallace. Anything that aggregates his injury could potentially jeopardize his breathing," barked Bruce. "Don't flop on his bed. No boisterous bro-hugs."

"Bruce, you're scaring him. Ease up," suggested Barry who knew full well they'd never have released Dick to home care if he was still that fragile. "He'll be gentle."

Dick's eyes were closed when Wally got there. Wally frowned. He finally gets to see Dick and he's sleeping.

"Hey," called Wally experimentally.

"Hi Wally. I'm awake, just resting."

Wally smiled tentatively. "How are you feeling?"

"Not exactly feeling the aster but I'm not pushing up daisies either," joked Dick. "What's the team been told?"

"Nada other than that you were shot. Just like that Grayson boy … hmmm. They won't tell the team anything because they don't want any more parallels drawn that would blow your identity. I hear your due to be awarded a medal of some sort."

"Robin's going to present it," spoke Dick with a smirk.

"Who's idea was that. Batman must have jumped at the chance to prove you not you. Going to show off your matching arm slings?" Asked Wally.

"Yep, actually I think it was the President's idea. He normally presents this medal and he wanted me to come to Washington but I'm not medically stable enough for the trip and he doesn't feel it would be good idea returning to Gotham at this time. I'll still be in a wheelchair but Robin will just have a sling."

"You know if Robin's making a public appearance before he's visited with the team that the team will show up. Megan will show up," answered Wally.

"I expect you will be occupied with some sort of mission," answered Dick grinning.

"Roy'll be hovering in the crowd then. He's been extra grumpy. How much longer are you going to have to wear the halo?" Asked Wally. Dick's spine and head were braced in one position. Sometime his arms and legs would twitch and jerk a little but he was mostly unnaturally still.

"What? I just want everyone to know what an angel I am," teased Dick. "Another month at least."

"Your halo looks positively steampunk dude. No bolts into the skull?"

"Nope. How'd the science fair go?"

Bruce who'd been hovering nearby seemed to relax at least a little. He nodded to Dick and gave him a subtle no more masks talk sign before wandering off. The nurse would be back soon.

The medal presentation went well. Martian Manhunter and Dick smiled for the cameras and no one questioned why Robin who wasn't in top form, wouldn't be on the streets. No one even questioned that Robin had been shot in the same incident. A lot of people had been shot.

The president was conspicuously absent. He appeared on a television monitor to speak to Dick during the presentation. Rumour had it he had stated off record that hell would freeze over before he ever stepped foot in Gotham again. The vice president was there looking rather awkward. The Gothamites seemed amused.

Martian Manhunter had his Robin slightly taller. The wheelchair and halo brace swallowed Dick Grayson making him look tiny. He'd also lost weight and muscle mass but at least he was moving well enough to shake Martian Manhunter's hand by that point.

Batman told the team after they got back from their "really important, just can't wait mission," that Robin would be in at the end of the month for a visit.

Dick was still wheelchair bound when he started back to school. Finally the halo came off and eventually Dick's physio had progress until he was using a walker rather than the wheelchair. His first walking unaided outing was to the cave.

Kid Flash hovered near the whole time which the rest of the team found overprotective and endearing. He'd just been winged hadn't he? Kaldur seemed a little less casual then some of the others. He remembered the only update they'd ever gotten on Robin's condition was that he'd been upgraded to serious condition which would indicate that the injury which Robin was laughing off and treating casually had been a critical injury at one point.

Roy stopped by for a short while but only to snark that the idiot president wasn't worth this stupidity and the trigger happy secret service needed target practice and Robin sit the frick down and what caliber was the bullet was it friendly fire or terrorist fire and what were the rest of you monkeys doing.

"I hate monkeys," snarled Superboy.

"Yeah whatever!" snarled Red Arrow right back.

Dick got home and gingerly sat down exhausted.

"How'd it go," asked Bruce as if he hadn't been glued to the security cameras.

"Sometimes secret identities suck."

Alfred, who was in the midst of scrubbing sugar baby pink lipstick off one of Bruce's collars while fixing tea and monitoring the three axis milling machine which was repairing a panel from Batman's chest plating, hmm'd in agreement.

"I know you hated the wheelchair but slowing down Dick Grayson's healing while speeding up Robin's was the only thing that made sense," answered Bruce. "I meant how are you really?"

"A bit wigged out really. I've always been very aware that people die in this gig but living as a head dragging around a useless body…"

"I've noticed you've been extra touchy feely," answered Bruce. "Dick. There are other ways to do good in the world than Robin." Bruce would miss having his son at his side dearly but it wasn't just Dick this had scared. Bruce still hadn't managed to go to bed at night once since the incident without checking on Dick to make sure he was still breathing.

Alfred spoke up. "You lot can stop blooming pretending you'll ever be happy doing anything else!" He kept scrubbing at the collar of the lipstick stained dress shirt.

Dick cackled a little and gave Alfred a one armed hug before heading to bed. "Don't ever change Alfred. I love you."

Bruce snorted stifling a grin.

 **More author's ramblings:**

 **I feel like this is the secret truth and foundation of the DC universe. The public and even friends blissfully blind to the sacrifices and trials of their larger than life heroes who are still people and pay some pretty horrific costs that get tidily hidden away so the public won't see weakness from it's hero.**

 **Not quite deleted scene:**

"Artemis have you had nightmares since the incident?"

"NONE OKAY! Pass the popcorn. We're freaking team bonding here." Artemis didn't want to talk about it or think about it or even look at Robin.

"Connor ever second guess the decisions you made?"

Connor, growls and bashes a chunk out of the wall. "I'm getting a soda! ANYONE ELSE WANT ONE?!"

Kaldur calmly repeats, "I told you already, we are out of soda." Nobody ever listens but somehow it's still my fault for not communicating, thought Kaldur frustrated.

Megan calls, "I'll go to the store." Don't eavesdrop on my thoughts they say but they won't stop mentally screaming angst? Smiles sweetly, "Would anyone like anything else?"

Wally speaks up, "Canary can you leave off with the questions. Robin you want anything? I'll get it."

Dick answers, "I'm good!" How much longer till I can go home without freaking everyone out? "I'm asterous in fact." Not sure if that's the opposite of disaster or the pushing up daisy impression. Smile Robin, tell a joke, make a pun. Another hour or two and you can go home.

Roy snarks, "You can lie down if you need to idiot!"

"Now I lay me down to rest,.. No thanks Roy! I'm okily dokily."

"We're all okily dokily Canary," snaps Wally because Robin's starting to list to the side a little. His trunk control is still weak and his left hand is ever so subtly shaking. He sits down beside Robin to help him prop himself up.

Canary rubs her temples in frustration. "Enjoy your movie. I'm heading home."


End file.
